Brain Morphometry on Congenital Hand Deformities based on Teichmüller Space Theory

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging
• Computational Geometry

Background:

• Congenital Hand Deformities (CHD) present at birth due to embryonic upper limb development issues.
• While surgical and psychological aspects of CHD are studied, their impact on brain structure remains unclear.
• Understanding brain morphometry in CHD is crucial for comprehensive patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of Congenital Hand Deformities on brain cortical morphometry.
• To introduce a novel computational approach using Teichmüller space theory and conformal welding for brain analysis.
• To analyze geometric relations on the cortex surface in CHD patients.

Main Methods:

• Applied Teichmüller space theory and conformal welding to study brain morphometry.
• Utilized discrete surface Ricci flow for computing conformal welding signatures.
• Computed signatures of pre-central and post-central gyrus contours from 3D MRI data of CHD and control subjects.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the effectiveness of the novel computational method using preliminary MRI data.
• Identified distinct brain cortical morphometry patterns in CHD subjects.
• Statistical comparison between left and right brain provided insights into CHD-related brain changes.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method effectively analyzes brain cortical morphometry in Congenital Hand Deformities.
• Findings offer a better understanding of brain morphometry alterations in CHD, particularly in relation to upper limb development.
• This approach holds potential for future research into neurodevelopmental disorders.